Does Teacher Feedback Potentiate a Positive Feedback Loop That Underlies the “Achievement Gap”? The Role of Race and Gender in the Interrelations Between Self-Perceptions, Teacher Feedback, and Academic Performance at West Point

Dynamic relationships among teacher or supervisor judgments, self-beliefs, and performance are important, especially for Black and female students in White, male majority settings. We examined temporal interrelationships among GPA, self and instructor ratings of classroom competence among military cadets at the United States Military Academy (_n_=8,612). Mixed models run on samples matched on SAT score revealed Black-White differences in GPA, self and instructor ratings, and gender differences in self-rating. Samples matched on freshman GPA revealed Black-White differences in final GPA and instructor ratings. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model, which accounts for between-person average levels of each variable, showed that instructor ratings of classroom competence had a stronger effect on future GPA for Black versus White students, illuminating one mechanism underlying racial disparities in final GPA. This finding did not hold for instructor ratings of social skill, showing the specificity of the effect. Self-assessment of competence solidified in Year 2, whereas GPA and instructor ratings influenced each other over time in a positive feedback loop. Results are discussed in regard to the experiences of Black cadets and impact of superior Officers and supervisors.